How many times do we or people we know get caught up “in glory”—the glamour, the appearance, special effects—and miss the true meaning of something? Many times we listen to the beat of a song or get caught up in the hype of what is popular, but fail to listen to the words. What is the artist saying? In politics, we can be captivated by the charm and charisma of a politician, but fail to take to heart the words he or she says. In the midst of the applause, the message is blocked. “The Transfiguration is a prayer event; it displays visibly what happens when Jesus talks with his Father.” [1] The purpose of prayer is to communicate, to talk with God and not just to talk, but more importantly, to listen. We, as well as the Apostles, are invited into the conversation in which we hear the voice of the Father say, “Listen to him.”

It is easy to get caught up in feelings, what we see or experience. Peter wanted to stay on the mountain top and continue to see and experience the glory of Christ’s Transfiguration; for this would be much easier than patiently following Jesus daily and listening to his every word. Listening to the Word of God, every word coming from the lips of Christ and passed down to us from the Apostles, is the basis of our faith. Saint Peter would soon remember his own words to the Master, which occurred prior to the Transfiguration: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” [2]

“Don't you have this passion to listen to him? Sometimes it is so strong, this need to be silent, that one would like to know how to do nothing but remain like Magdalene, that beautiful model for the contemplative soul, at the feet of the Master, eager to hear everything, to penetrate ever deeper into this mystery of Charity that he came to reveal to us.” [3] The Apostles Peter, James and John are eager to stay at the feet of the Transfigured Lord, but it is only Saint John, Saint Mary Magdalene and Our Lady that stay at the feet of the crucified Lord. It is easy to see the glory, but hard to see the shame; easy to meditate on the Glorious mysteries of the rosary, but more difficult sometimes to meditate on the Sorrowful.

The voice of God during the Transfiguration says, “Listen to him.” Jesus wishes to confirm our faith, not our feelings, and He does this primarily through His Words and example. These words and examples have been passed down to us in both Sacred Tradition and Scripture and confirm our faith. “Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.” [4]

There were many, who had strong feelings that Jesus was the Messiah, as they shouted and sang “Hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem. That same support quickly turned to betrayal as the same people shouted a few days later, “Crucify Him; crucify Him!” The palms of Palm Sunday very quickly turn to ash, the same ash we place on our foreheads during Lent to remind us of our betrayal of Christ. The ashes also remind us that although we betrayed Him, His mercy extends to us and He overlooks the sins of men for the sake of repentance. “Your mercy extends to all things, O Lord, and you despise none of the things you have made. You overlook the sins of men for the sake of repentance. You grant them your pardon, because you are the Lord our God.” [5]

Why is the Transfiguration such a short moment and witnessed by only three Apostles? Jesus does not want to manipulate us. He wants us to choose Him freely. In a relationship, a woman would not want a man to like her for only her looks or possessions. In the same way, a man does not want to be liked only for his money or status. Relationships are not determined over candlelight dinners, but rather in the reality of every day moments in which the character of a person, the interior, is revealed. Jesus does not want to appeal to our senses or our feelings, but rather to our soul, our faith. The reason that the Transfiguration is so short and only seen by three people is because His desire is not to show off but to “confirm the faith of the Apostles who were shaken by the announcement of His Passion.” [6] This is the same reason that while in the desert for 40 days, Jesus refused to give into the temptation from Satan to jump off the temple in the midst of thousands of people [7] and later on the reason He withdrew to the hills by himself when He perceived that the people were going to make Him a king. [8] Jesus is not interested in appealing to our feelings but rather confirming our faith. Feelings are secondary; Faith is necessarily first.

Why can Mass, prayer, or other spiritual practices sometimes seem boring? Once again Jesus is appealing to our faith (our soul) not our feelings (our senses). We should come to the spiritual not because it entertains us, or feeds our senses, but because it nourishes the soul. Our senses are temporal, and feelings of excitement come and go. Jesus is interested not in a flighty come and go relationship, but a permanent relationship—a “house built on rock”. [9] In this verse, we are reminded again to “listen to him” as Jesus says, “Everyone then, who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man, who built his house upon rock.” Jesus wants to appeal to our soul, which is eternal. Saint Jose Maria Escriva says, “(Are) You Bored? That is because your senses are awake, while your soul is asleep.” Mass, prayer, and other spiritual practices are meant to wake up and feed our soul. The primary goal is not to captivate our senses, but to captivate our soul.

The world is concerned with keeping our senses awake, to attract us, and in many times manipulate us. When our senses are captivated, we often choose what they want us to choose. Think of a casino, with it’s windowless abyss of loud noises, lights, and action. The senses are captivated and, in a sense, caged. Jesus wants us to freely choose Him, so He gives himself, clothed in simple humanity, stripped of His glory so that when we choose Him, there is no manipulation.

ACTIVITY – Silent Contemplation “Listen to Him” In a world that bombards our senses with noise, lights, action we realize that to truly “listen to him” we must listen in silence. At Mass we have periods of silence. After the readings and after the Eucharist, these are opportunities to listen in silence. Jesus went into the desert to listen in silence. Listening in silence is a part of Liturgy of the Hours, in which moments of silence take place between Psalms. Silence is especially a part of lectio divina (Divine Reading) in which a scripture is read slowly and then meditated on in silence. Take time to reread the Gospel and/or the Spiritual Reading slowly once, have a moment to “listen to him” in silence and then read again. After listening in silence (10-15 minutes), each person should share the fruits of their Gospel meditation—what they heard in the silence. The Quick Connect is available to do this lectio divina activity.

When do feelings supercede faith? When does faith supercede feelings?

The short video "Sunday's Coming" shows how the spiritual can begin to mimic the cultureand appeal to the senses rather than the soul. The importance of Liturgy (Mass, Rites of the Sacraments, Liturgy of Hours), prayer, and devotion is that it is timeless and does not depend on a time period or fads. The Liturgy is for all times. It is eternal; it appeals to the soul which is eternal, not the senses which are temporal.

How is the Transfiguration connected to the Mass? The structure and elements of the Mass are seen at the Transfiguration. In the first part of the Mass on Sundays (the Liturgy of the Word), the first reading is from the Old Testament, represented at the Transfiguration by the appearance of Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets). After the Old Testament reading, we have a Psalm and then an Epistle. The Epistles were written by the Apostles, which are represented by Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration. We then stand and hear the Gospel proclaimed. The Gospel is about Jesus, who at the Transfiguration is at the center of Moses and Elijah (Old Testament). The priest or deacon incenses the Gospel prior to proclaiming the Word of God. In the Gospel we read, “From the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’” At the Mass the incense creates a kind of cloud, and from this “cloud” God tells us to listen to the Word of God. Everything points to Jesus, who at the Transfiguration is flanked by the Old Testament (Moses and Elijah) and bowed down to by the Epistles (Peter, James and John). As we move into the second part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we center upon the Crucifixion (suffering) and the Resurrection (hope). The prayer immediately after the “Our Father” shows that we will have deliverance in time of suffering and that we can look with hope to the glory of Christ. “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever.” [10]

Why doesn’t Jesus always reveal Himself in glory? Jesus “wanted to resemble us as much as possible by appearing ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Romans 8:3)” [11] Jesus is the Word made Flesh, and so He wanted to manifest Himself in the flesh, fully human. The human face does not shine like the sun, and human clothes are not white as light, so Jesus shared in humanity in all ways but sin. No human would be able to comprehend the divinity of Christ, if not clothed in humanity. “The three were enraptured by it [the Transfiguration], and yet Jesus had revealed to them only one ray of His glory, for no human creature could have borne the complete vision.” [12] In regards to Divine Revelation, God is kind enough to reveal to us only what is necessary for our Salvation. We do not know everything there is to know about God, but only what we need to know. God is a mystery, which if revealed in its completeness, our human minds could not contain. Saint Augustine tells a story of a time when he was walking on a beach, and he saw a little child putting water from the sea in a hole that he had dug. The boy continued to go back to the sea with a bucket, fill it up, and then dump it in the hole. When Saint Augustine asked the boy what he was doing, the boy said he was going to empty the sea into the hole he had made. Saint Augustine told the boy that was impossible. The boy responded, “Neither can you understand the mysteries of God.” The boy disappeared and Saint Augustine understood the words to be the words of the Christ Child. Imagine taking a water balloon and trying the fill it up with the force of a fire hydrant. They balloon would not be able to take the force and would break. God in His mercy reveals to our human mind and heart only what we are capable of receiving.

What is the basis of our faith? Do we base our faith on feelings or on seeing Christ in His glory? Would we still believe, even if we don’t have a dramatic spiritual experience or spiritual high? After her death it was revealed that Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta struggled for many years in a time of spiritual dryness. She did not “feel” anything but still remained faithful and joyful in the living of her faith. At the end of her life, Saint Therese of Lisieux began to doubt the existence of God. She did not “feel” God but remained faithful. Our Lord gives the perfect example of faith before feelings, as He prays Psalm 22, while suffering on the Cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress. O my God, I call by day and you give no reply; I call by night and I find no peace.” The psalm ends with words of hope and faith, “And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him. They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come, declare his faithfulness to people yet unborn; ‘These things the Lord has done.’” We are these children that serve Him and declare His faithfulness in our lives and especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He was thinking and speaking of us, in the midst of His great agony on the Cross. Upon the Cross it was His soul, first, that lived for God, while His senses were being racked in pain.